After all the noise, the hype, the pomp, this was Brian Burke’s first chance to strut his stuff as general manager of the Maple Leafs and on hockey’s busiest day he came away with a performance best deemed as underwhelming.

Maybe he did all he could. Maybe he had little to barter with. Maybe everyone’s expectations—yours and mine—were impossible to meet.

We expected a rabbit to get pulled out a hat and all we got was a phony trade where the Leafs paid real money (in salaries) to essentially purchase a fourth- round draft pick from the cash-poor Tampa Bay Lightning. That was creative, if not, insignificant. He needed an extra pick and for picking up about half a million in salary, he acquired one.

It seemed unfathomable a few weeks ago, but Martin Gerber may have new life in the NHL.

There is interest in the waiver-available goaltender, and it comes courtesy of the Toronto Maple Leafs. There could be a couple of reasons for this. Obviously, one is that Vesa Toskala - who is starting Tuesday night against the Devils - gets traded. The other is that Toskala is hurting, with hip and groin problems.

t is almost certain that tonight’s game against New Jersey will be Dominic Moore’s last as a Maple Leaf….

Burke, though, was still unwilling to completely close the door on Moore’s future with the Leafs.

“It’s still too early to say,” the GM said last night.

However, it’s difficult to believe Moore will sign in Toronto, even though both parties would like that to happen. It is believed the two sides remain about $1 million (all figures U.S.) apart per season, a gap that is just too wide to be bridged.

Moore, based on his breakout season with the Leafs, is thought to be looking for roughly triple the $900,000 he earns this season with a desired two-year deal in the $5 million range. While that seems steep, there are those who believe Moore could command more than $3 million a season on the open market this summer.

The New England Sports Network and the Boston Herald both reported that the Eastern Conference leading Bruins have offered their first- and third-round picks in the upcoming NHL entry draft, as well top prospect Joe Colborne.

Burke told TSN that there has been no such offer.

“It’s not true, a total fabrication,” Burke told TSN. “I sat with (Boston GM) Peter Chiarelli for the first period of Saturday’s game in Boston and we never discussed Tomas Kaberle. We hadn’t spoken about Kaberle before that and we most certainly haven’t since then. There is no truth to it at all. None.”